Less than 10 games into the season, and the AL East is already shaping up to be a competitive division, with the top 3 squads all tied, and the 4th team only 2 games back at this early point in the season.
The Pawtucket Pawsocks are owned by third season manager lsansoucy, and are looking to rebound from last season's "disappointing" finish, where they had to settle for the wild card, and were then bounced early from the playoffs. Consistency is the name of the game in Pawtucket, as the Socks are returning the majority of last season's lineup, only losing Phillip The Butcher as a type A free agent. Team leader Keith Gates said "we're looking to do some big stuff in the AL this year. We have great team chemistry, and we're a veteran club. You can almost count on one hand how many kids we have in this clubhouse. We really only made one big change to the roster last year, and this year we bought up one or two guys from the minors, but otherwise you're looking at the same faces that you saw at this time last year. And the year before. And that's not at all depressing."
With a pitching staff led by The Big Three (their name, not mine), Josias Dotel, Oswaldo Chavez, and Hal Harper, they're hoping to post solid numbers like last season. "We don't think anyone in our division can really keep up with us," Iowa native Harper said. Chavez and Dotel sat across from us in the locker room, grinning from ear to ear and giving us a big thumbs-up. "Their English is still a little rusty," Harper explained, "we just tell them not to cuss at the ump in Spanish, in case he took a few classes in high school."
After being run by "incompetent ownership" in season 1, the Pittsburgh Steelheads turned things around in season 2, and are hoping to continue building on that success in season 3. "I don't know what those guys were doing before we got here, but they weren't investing their money well. Prospect money? Scouting? Training? What the hell is that?!?" Pitt invested an additional $40M into their player budget in season 2, and have kept a similar number this season, boasting some great players, with great contracts. "Championships don't just happen, you have to go out and get the players to make it happen," mowbs69 told me as we sat in his plush office overlooking PNC Park. We went out and got Franco last season, and then signed him to a deal that will keep him here until he retires, or until we tire of him. Kobayashi wanted to leave, but we made him an offer he couldn't refuse, and now he'll be here until his legs fall off. We bought, er, signed Rijo during the offseason between year 1 and 2, and he hit 25 bombs for us last year." When I asked him about the decrease in training money, and how it might negatively affect some of his older players, mowbs69 laughed it off. "That's just an old wives tale, you don't actually believe in that crap, do you?"
The team seemed to be pretty content with their lineup from last season, as they were very quiet in the free agency market this offseason, and they did not lose any big players either. "I'll give him credit, he spent just enough extra money last year to take away the division title from us," said lsansoucy, "but I don't exactly agree with his methods, and I think we're going to take back that title this season. Those old guys can't play 162 games. They need time off. They're going to get injured. What's he going to do then? Spend more money?" Still led by Graham Herzner as their ace pitcher, his lifetime record of 27-12, with an ERA of only 3.64, and a salary of $9M this season, he might take a few of his dollars and shove them down the Pawtucket owner's throat when they play each other again this season. Clearly shaken by the owner's remarks when they faced off August 25th, the star gave up two runs and six hits in just two innings of work. "He can't talk about our team and ownership like that. He'd better hope he doesn't run in to any of Pittsburgh's faithful the next time they come here."
The Cleveland Storm are the proverbial question wrapped in an enigma. One season they finish 2nd in the division with a player salary budget of just $61M, the next year they add another $15M to the player budget and finish dead last in the division. This year they have $113M in their budget, and yet are currently only spending around $56M. "They only have 7 or 8 guys making more than $1M, only three of them are making more than $5M, and all of them suck," said Cleveland Herald reporter Larry Hughes. "I don't know if they're waiting for some big international prospect to come along, so they can move money into that section of the budget, or if they're just waiting to see how the crappy guys do, and then go make some trades for high-priced guy that can take over from there. It's really odd, I've never seen this before."
Led by all-star and silver slugger Fernando Rodriguez, the rest of the team feels like they can do anything when he is around. After missing 24 games in his first season, and playing 7 games so far this season, Rodriguez has 114 HR's, 284 RBI's, and is batting .295 with an amazing 1.012 OPS, easily besting the rest of his team. "The guy is just amazing," owner tribe_1 said via phone interview. "He's only going to get better too, just wait to see what he does in a year or two."
The most devastating news of the season so far, was when starting SS Brendan Patel was diagnosed with a torn ACL, and put on the 60-Day DL, where he will most likely stay for the majority of the season, if not all of it. "That was really tough on everyone in the clubhouse," said veteran catcher Al Morales. "Nobody really knew what to do when we saw him laying there on the infield. 'Is he going to be okay?' 'Where do we go from here?' A lot of questions that we didn't know the answers to." Can the team rebound from a hit like that? Will ownership decide what to do with their excess cash? Will Rodriguez hit 75 HR's in a losing cause this year?
One of the scariest offenses in all of the major leagues this season, the Norfolk Tides are hoping to continue their rise up the rankings, after finishing season 1 in 4th place, and then 3rd in season 2 in their division. Team owner njohnson78 said to us during an interview in his office that smelled of rich mahogany, "we felt like we were improving as the season went on last year, but we were still missing a piece or two. We had a lot of prospects in the minors, but you can't move everyone to the ML at the same time, and eventually you're going to have a dozen guys who are all up for arbitration or free agency at the same time, so we made a move." That "move" was the trade that sent Jesus Gonzales (37-14 career record in the minors), Javier Roque (75 career ML saves) and Benjamin Booker (43 out of 49 saves in AA in season 1) to Albuquerque, while bringing Will Nixon to Norfolk. Nixon immediately made the standard joke of "wow, I've never seen so many sea-men in one place at one time," as he entered the fine city of Norfolk, but was still welcomed by a large crowd of supporters. "We're all excited to have him here," said team captain Zip Cook. "We already had a solid offense, but bringing that guy in.....wow, we're going to cause some damage this year." Through his translator, Luis Villano said "we could have three guys hit 40 or more HR's this year, with me, Grant, and Will. It's a pretty lethal 1-2-3 punch."
The big question mark for the Tides is their pitching, which many experts think was not addressed sufficiently during the offseason. Virginian-Pilot reporter Rainer Sabin told us "their pitching staff was average at best last season, and it fluctuated almost weekly. And then what did they do during the offseason? They sign a 31-year-old who went 6-19 last season to be their 5th starter. Seriously. Does that fix your problem? Coleman is still their 'ace,' but he hasn't had a winning season here, ever. Velazquez has started well this year, and he finished above .500 his first season, but the guy is 30-years-old now, and not getting any younger. Considering how much money they're paying Cummings over the next few years, he should be an all-star and winning 20 games a year. Unless these guys can score 10 or more runs each game, they'll be lucky to finish 3rd in their division. Pitt and Pawtucket are the class of the division, mostly because their pitching doesn't completely suck."
Monday, August 25, 2008
NL East Preview
Boston Mets
Mets GM ajf00529 has taken a lot of grief over the past season or so, but he’s really assembled a decent team this year filled with talent. Question—who’s the best player in the Dream League right now? Simply put, nobody is better than Mets shortstop Nick Black. With two MVP seasons already in the books, and 118 home runs and 272 RBI the last two seasons Black astounds even his peers.
“He’s the best in the game right now,” newly signed Madison second baseman Buddy Rivers says.
At 29, Black is still in his prime, and should be expected to deliver a .300-40-125-125 season this year.
Third year man, and 22 year old pitcher Winston Taft seems ready to go this season.
“We’re gonna be there this year,” Taft says, “I’m tired of all this shit about the NL North being the division to beat this year. You’re going to hear from us before everything is said and done.
Boston will have question marks to address, chiefly about Brian Zhang’s expanding contract ($15m over the next three seasons, his expanding numbers (Season 1 = 3.63 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, Season 2 = 4.51 ERA 1.44 WHIP) and his expanding waistline—the Mets’ program lists him “judiciously” at 5-9 202lbs. Though nobody will mention it in the Mets’ clubhouse most believe Zhang’s ballooning numbers are due to his ballooning waistline. One AL scout estimated his weight closer to 225lbs,
“He looks like an overstuffed bag of McDonald’s burgers out there.”
“This is year of redemption and rebirth,” the Japanese (Hyogo) born Zhang said through an interpreter. “Much improvement is expected from me.”
If Zhang doesn’t restore himself back to form, or if he ends up spending more time in Old Country Buffets than on the mound, Boston’s staff could be in trouble. Danys Olivares may be counted on to pitch over and above his current fifth slot in the rotation. Olivares, a highly regarded international prospect out of the Dominican Republic, struggled a bit with his concentration last year both at AAA and later in the ML. Olivares himself doesn’t appear to be phased by the transition,
“Expect big things from me,” he says with a smile, “big things.”
Boston certainly hopes he delivers “big things” for this ballclub.
Baltimore Barksdales
Will the last player out of Baltimore please turn out the lights? With 12 free agents departing the Barksdales last season, this figures to be a challenging year in Baltimore.
“I don’t hardly know, no one,” holdover Toby McPherson quipped, “it’s like the first day of school.”
While the 26 year old McPherson may not know many of his teammates, you can bet his teammates, and the rest of the NL know who he is. McPherson’s line in his first two seasons:
28-16 Record, 385Ks, 2.56 ERA, 1.08 WHIP
McPherson will only get stronger as he learns to set up his change-up better. It’s likely that a couple of Cy Young trophies will sit on McPherson’s mantle before he calls it quits on a career.
The key for Baltimore this year will be on the offensive side of the diamond. With no regular that hit over .285 in the lineup last year, Baltimore struggled to keep innings going and tack on runs.
P.J. Rowan smacked 47 home runs, but whiffed at an astounding rate, racking up 184 strike outs. Ignacio Bennett could be a terror on the basepaths (62 steals last year) but with a career slugging percentage of .294 he needs to be more selective and lace balls into the gap. With his speed, balls to the alleys should go for doubles and triples. 29 career extra base hits should be an embarrassment for someone with his speed and talent.
Free agency has taken its toll on the lineup—it remains to be see if Baltimore has a long term plan or if the franchise is on the downslide.
New York Gridlock
Two brawls during a three game set with the Boston Mets in the last month of the season has New York fired up this year.
“Boston is a bunch of cheap shot artists,” third baseman Samuel Service noted.
Gookie Cosby, who hit 96/97 MPH on the gun a couple times last year, and who was responsible for plunking Boston’s Al Leyritz starting the whole affair serviced notice via the New York Times earlier this year,
“Let me make this real clear right now. This year we’re not going to tolerate them throwing at our guys. There will be consequences.”
Dream League Commissioner PizzaSteve has already phoned both New York and Boston with the purpose of warning them that their games will be under close scrutiny. Given the media circuses in New York and Boston both squads are used to scrutiny.
“It is as I said,” Cosby said when informed of the Commish’s phone call.
The new attitude in the clubhouse seems to be an “us against them” mentality and time will tell how it serves the ballclub.
New York didn’t make the top quarter of the league in any major pitching or hitting categories, but their defense was sound last year—a team .989 fielding percentage was good for fourth in the league. Shortstop James “Hoover” Steele, who sucks up groundballs like the vacuum cleaner, won his second gold glove yielding only 10 errors on the season. The lack of errors only tell part of the story, however, as Steele’s range allows him to get to balls that would be hits against most other shortstops. If there was a defensive liability on the squad last year it was at catcher. David Santiago struggled to throw out runners allowing 113 stolen bases versus only 21 thrown out (only 15% of runners thrown out). Santiago has been replaced this year, but fans shouldn’t get too excited—his replacement, Johnny Neill was even worse last year, allowing 30 stolen bases while throwing out only 4 (11%).
Expect fun on the basepaths in New York this year. Expect interesting matchups when Boston visits New York (and vice-versa). Failing that, you can likely still look forward to Boston’s Al Leyritz versus New York’s Gookie Cosby on the next UFC pay per view.
“ing Leyritz, better check his batting helmut before he steps in this year,” Cosby warned.
Indeed.
Rochester Red Wings
The Red Wings finished 21 games behind the division leading Mets last season.
“The way I see it, the only way we can go is up,” says Brad Beam, the Wings starting shortstop.
There is reason to be optimistic. Veteran Junior Mota (47 home runs last year), and young Carson Sherman (29 home runs in limited games last year) and are both powerful mashers who will get to play a full season with each other in Season 3. Expect them to combine for 90 home runs this year if they both stay healthy. Brad Beam and Woody Kydd figure to be good for 40 stolen bases between them. 23 year old Reid Epstein figures to be one of the top five pitchers in the NL again, after striking out 202 batters in 251 innings last season.
“I like our team,” Wings bench coach Armando Martin, an eleven year vet, says.
“It’s a young team that’s hungry and improving,” ESPN Analyst John Kruk says, “I look for them to get stronger as the season wears on.”
Not everyone is optimistic.
“They’ve still got a long was to go,” ESPN Analyst Steve Phillips disagreed. “A very long ways to go.”
How well the team develops their ability to do the little things, such as executing hit and runs, moving runners over, and bunting, may determine whether they can improve on their 70-92 record a year ago. Veteran hitting coach, Adam Ramirez, was brought in for just that purpose.
“If our speed guys like Beam and “Figgy” (Jose Figureoa) get more patient at the plate and go with the pitch I think we have an opportunity to score more runs than last year; a lot more runs,” says Ramirez.
The pieces are in place in Rochester for a potential push of the division leaders, but this may be a team that’s a couple of years away from really making good on its potential. With Kevin Grace and Chad Ricchio improving in AAA, next year may be the year Rochester’s name gets thrown in the mix with New York and Boston.
Aaron Clarke
Senior Writer
Mets GM ajf00529 has taken a lot of grief over the past season or so, but he’s really assembled a decent team this year filled with talent. Question—who’s the best player in the Dream League right now? Simply put, nobody is better than Mets shortstop Nick Black. With two MVP seasons already in the books, and 118 home runs and 272 RBI the last two seasons Black astounds even his peers.
“He’s the best in the game right now,” newly signed Madison second baseman Buddy Rivers says.
At 29, Black is still in his prime, and should be expected to deliver a .300-40-125-125 season this year.
Third year man, and 22 year old pitcher Winston Taft seems ready to go this season.
“We’re gonna be there this year,” Taft says, “I’m tired of all this shit about the NL North being the division to beat this year. You’re going to hear from us before everything is said and done.
Boston will have question marks to address, chiefly about Brian Zhang’s expanding contract ($15m over the next three seasons, his expanding numbers (Season 1 = 3.63 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, Season 2 = 4.51 ERA 1.44 WHIP) and his expanding waistline—the Mets’ program lists him “judiciously” at 5-9 202lbs. Though nobody will mention it in the Mets’ clubhouse most believe Zhang’s ballooning numbers are due to his ballooning waistline. One AL scout estimated his weight closer to 225lbs,
“He looks like an overstuffed bag of McDonald’s burgers out there.”
“This is year of redemption and rebirth,” the Japanese (Hyogo) born Zhang said through an interpreter. “Much improvement is expected from me.”
If Zhang doesn’t restore himself back to form, or if he ends up spending more time in Old Country Buffets than on the mound, Boston’s staff could be in trouble. Danys Olivares may be counted on to pitch over and above his current fifth slot in the rotation. Olivares, a highly regarded international prospect out of the Dominican Republic, struggled a bit with his concentration last year both at AAA and later in the ML. Olivares himself doesn’t appear to be phased by the transition,
“Expect big things from me,” he says with a smile, “big things.”
Boston certainly hopes he delivers “big things” for this ballclub.
Baltimore Barksdales
Will the last player out of Baltimore please turn out the lights? With 12 free agents departing the Barksdales last season, this figures to be a challenging year in Baltimore.
“I don’t hardly know, no one,” holdover Toby McPherson quipped, “it’s like the first day of school.”
While the 26 year old McPherson may not know many of his teammates, you can bet his teammates, and the rest of the NL know who he is. McPherson’s line in his first two seasons:
28-16 Record, 385Ks, 2.56 ERA, 1.08 WHIP
McPherson will only get stronger as he learns to set up his change-up better. It’s likely that a couple of Cy Young trophies will sit on McPherson’s mantle before he calls it quits on a career.
The key for Baltimore this year will be on the offensive side of the diamond. With no regular that hit over .285 in the lineup last year, Baltimore struggled to keep innings going and tack on runs.
P.J. Rowan smacked 47 home runs, but whiffed at an astounding rate, racking up 184 strike outs. Ignacio Bennett could be a terror on the basepaths (62 steals last year) but with a career slugging percentage of .294 he needs to be more selective and lace balls into the gap. With his speed, balls to the alleys should go for doubles and triples. 29 career extra base hits should be an embarrassment for someone with his speed and talent.
Free agency has taken its toll on the lineup—it remains to be see if Baltimore has a long term plan or if the franchise is on the downslide.
New York Gridlock
Two brawls during a three game set with the Boston Mets in the last month of the season has New York fired up this year.
“Boston is a bunch of cheap shot artists,” third baseman Samuel Service noted.
Gookie Cosby, who hit 96/97 MPH on the gun a couple times last year, and who was responsible for plunking Boston’s Al Leyritz starting the whole affair serviced notice via the New York Times earlier this year,
“Let me make this real clear right now. This year we’re not going to tolerate them throwing at our guys. There will be consequences.”
Dream League Commissioner PizzaSteve has already phoned both New York and Boston with the purpose of warning them that their games will be under close scrutiny. Given the media circuses in New York and Boston both squads are used to scrutiny.
“It is as I said,” Cosby said when informed of the Commish’s phone call.
The new attitude in the clubhouse seems to be an “us against them” mentality and time will tell how it serves the ballclub.
New York didn’t make the top quarter of the league in any major pitching or hitting categories, but their defense was sound last year—a team .989 fielding percentage was good for fourth in the league. Shortstop James “Hoover” Steele, who sucks up groundballs like the vacuum cleaner, won his second gold glove yielding only 10 errors on the season. The lack of errors only tell part of the story, however, as Steele’s range allows him to get to balls that would be hits against most other shortstops. If there was a defensive liability on the squad last year it was at catcher. David Santiago struggled to throw out runners allowing 113 stolen bases versus only 21 thrown out (only 15% of runners thrown out). Santiago has been replaced this year, but fans shouldn’t get too excited—his replacement, Johnny Neill was even worse last year, allowing 30 stolen bases while throwing out only 4 (11%).
Expect fun on the basepaths in New York this year. Expect interesting matchups when Boston visits New York (and vice-versa). Failing that, you can likely still look forward to Boston’s Al Leyritz versus New York’s Gookie Cosby on the next UFC pay per view.
“ing Leyritz, better check his batting helmut before he steps in this year,” Cosby warned.
Indeed.
Rochester Red Wings
The Red Wings finished 21 games behind the division leading Mets last season.
“The way I see it, the only way we can go is up,” says Brad Beam, the Wings starting shortstop.
There is reason to be optimistic. Veteran Junior Mota (47 home runs last year), and young Carson Sherman (29 home runs in limited games last year) and are both powerful mashers who will get to play a full season with each other in Season 3. Expect them to combine for 90 home runs this year if they both stay healthy. Brad Beam and Woody Kydd figure to be good for 40 stolen bases between them. 23 year old Reid Epstein figures to be one of the top five pitchers in the NL again, after striking out 202 batters in 251 innings last season.
“I like our team,” Wings bench coach Armando Martin, an eleven year vet, says.
“It’s a young team that’s hungry and improving,” ESPN Analyst John Kruk says, “I look for them to get stronger as the season wears on.”
Not everyone is optimistic.
“They’ve still got a long was to go,” ESPN Analyst Steve Phillips disagreed. “A very long ways to go.”
How well the team develops their ability to do the little things, such as executing hit and runs, moving runners over, and bunting, may determine whether they can improve on their 70-92 record a year ago. Veteran hitting coach, Adam Ramirez, was brought in for just that purpose.
“If our speed guys like Beam and “Figgy” (Jose Figureoa) get more patient at the plate and go with the pitch I think we have an opportunity to score more runs than last year; a lot more runs,” says Ramirez.
The pieces are in place in Rochester for a potential push of the division leaders, but this may be a team that’s a couple of years away from really making good on its potential. With Kevin Grace and Chad Ricchio improving in AAA, next year may be the year Rochester’s name gets thrown in the mix with New York and Boston.
Aaron Clarke
Senior Writer
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